Snapchat Spotlight Challenges & Other Monetization Tools For Creators!
According to Variety, Snap is pushing boundaries with new tools for Snapchat creators that will help them bring in more cash. Snap is launching Spotlight Challenges next month, which will provide cash prizes ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 to users with the most views in various categories.
This technology is a ramped version of Snap’s rival (like TikTok), Spotlight’s monetization tool. Before we explore the other tools that Snap is introducing, let us delve deeper into – Spotlight Challenges.
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Snapchat Spotlight Challenges: Cha-Ching!
Snapchat will be offering the aforementioned cash rewards to artists who create the most entertaining videos using certain AR lenses, sounds, or topics.
Snapchat users may enter Spotlight Challenges to earn cash rewards for generating postings in a variety of categories, such as “Best Trick Shot” and “Impressions Challenge.”
Individual Spotlight Challenge prizes will generally range from $1,000 to $25,000, though Snap stated it may pay out a greater figure for a specific challenge on occasion. A Snapchat user may earn a minimum of $250 in a Spotlight Challenge.
If you are wondering, what are the rules for this challenge? Well, the only rule is…there are no rules.
Just kidding.
Apart from being a legal resident of one of the 50 United States and be above 16 years of age, participants must suffice to a lot of rules that you can find – here.
According to Snap, each challenge would typically award prizes to an average of 3-5 eligible Snapchatters. Each contest’s top 50 qualifying, relevant, and most-viewed contributions will be judged on their ingenuity and novelty, creative use of Snap creative tools, distinctive point-of-view, and entertainment quotient.
Now, how to find these spotlight challenges on the Snapchat app?
The challenges may be found on the Trending Page by tapping the “trending up” sign in the upper right corner of the app’s Spotlight. The description and submissions provided by the community will be shown on each Spotlight Challenge’s website.
To submit a video to a contest, users may press the camera icon to launch the Snapchat camera and make and enter a Snap.
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What Else Is New For Snapchat Users?
Apart from Spotlight Challenges, Snap is also rolling out other tools to increase income options for creators. Here are some other new changes that Snapchat plans to introduce –
- Snap is also bolstering its Creator Marketplace, allowing Snap Stars ( as they are dubbed) to secure sponsorships and tag brands in sponsored content
- Snapchat will also globally launch ‘ Creator Hub’, the company’s pioneer resource guide tool
- Snap’s gifting functionality, which allows followers to send money directly to creator accounts, might also be potentially rolled out worldwide
These changes are part of Snap’s efforts to dissuade prominent artists from switching sides to competitors like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, which are all investing substantially in incentives in the next two years alone – to entice creators to their networks.
Also Read: Instagram Rolls Out Ad Feature To The Shops Tab Globally
Twitter Introduces Fleets – The 24-Hour Disappearing Posts
- After its first launch in Brazil in March, followed by Italy in April, Twitter has rolled out its version of Stories’Fleets’ for users to post ephemeral content in India.
- Fleets are self-deleting tweets which will disappear after 24 hours without likes, retweets or replies. People can only react with DMs to the Fleets.
Nearly, 7 years ago Snapchat introduced a feature ‘Stories’ to their platform that enabled users to share content with friends and followers that would disappear after 24 hours. Soon, a similar feature was added to Instagram and WhatsApp as Stories and Status respectively by Facebook.
Now, its Twitter’s turn.
How does it matter
India is the 8th largest market for Twitter based on usage and has around 13 million users. Twitter users in India can now have access to the feature ‘Fleets’ and in the coming days, it will be available on iOS and Apple.
Namaste! Starting today, Fleets are coming to India. If you’re in India, check it out and let us know what you think! #FleetsFeedback 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/U6QiHynm1U
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) June 9, 2020
Testing, testing…
We’re testing a way for you to think out loud without the Likes, Retweets, or replies, called Fleets! Best part? They disappear after 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/r14VWUoF6p— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 9, 2020
Twitter is taking a staged approach similar to LinkedIn who rolled out its Stories feature in the UAE market, after the launch in Brazil and Netherlands.
Why, so important
The company said in a statement,
“We learned from research that people don’t Tweet because Tweets are public, feel permanent, and display the number of Retweets and Likes. We hope Fleets will empower many more people to express themselves more freely.”
By far the feedback received is optimistic and following are Twitter findings from the launch of Fleets in the two markets:
- Fleets make it easier for people to share thoughts.
- People are finding Twitter Fleets simpler to start convos and the number of tweets/DM is also increasing.
- People are expressing their thoughts freely after using Twitter Fleet.
- Though it is early to say, only a small percentage of abuse is reported each day after using Twitter Fleets. This was a key point that Twitter was looking to focus to make the platform toxic-free that had become a part and parcel over time.
How does it work:
“Fleets are fast and familiar. People can tap on their own avatar to start, add text or media, and hit send. That’s it, that’s how one Fleets.”
Twitter Fleets are ephemeral.
Image Credit: Twitter
Fleets, as seen in the images are similar to Stories that appear at the top of users’ Twitter home feed. Users can choose to make a post in a text (still 280 characters) or photos, GIF’s or videos. Users can tap on someone’s avatar to see what the person has posted which will eventually disappear after 24 hours.
Although Fleets doesn’t have additional visual presentation tools and AR functionality at this stage like most other Stories options but Twitter will gradually develop on this front as it had acquired Chrome Labs, a company focused on Advanced Stories presentation.
Lastly, Twitter Fleets is still in experiment mode and with access to more than 30 million users for a test pool, it could be the starting point for the global rollout.
So be ready with your Twitter Fleets strategy!
